I’m interested in how we communicate theory and different ways of wrangling our own heads about how theory works in the world. What do you think of this infographic? Does it help understand the idea of the New Peasantry? Or not? Keen for feedback

I’ve been trawling through the website of the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and came across some data that I think is alarming

From 2007-2009, castor bean production in Bahia declined by 75%!

and Sunflower seed production declined to just 1 metric ton in 2012 (from +3000 metric tons in 2007)

This is alarming for a few reasons

castor and sunflower are both meant to be part of the staple feedstock crops for biodiesel in Brazil.

castor and sunflower are both meant to be grown by family farmers and the Social fuel stamp given to companies who purchase from family farmers. In fact, 15% of all feedstock must be purchased from family farmers for a company to be eligible to process biodiesel and sell in national auctions (only market).

there was a well established castor market – in fact, Bahia used to supply some huge percentage of the worlds total castor oil as it is in high demand in pharmaceutical industry

part of the PNPB strategy was to “lock out” the middle men purchasing castor bean in Bahia and try to ensure that all farmers sold through a cooperative (which was contracted to a Biodiesel company). Excluding the middle man was seen as high priority for ensuring ‘fair’ and ‘sustainable’ castor production in Bahia

I’m not sure why there has been such a drastic decline in the production- but the statistics show that area under cultivation has been decreased (i.e. its not just a failed crop issue, people are actually cultivating less).

My Endnote library is too big and growing…so thought I should share some of it around. Here is a collection of thesis (some Masters and some PhD) – mostly on the PNPB. I’m sure this is only a small section on all the thesis written on the PNPB – I’ve also started a Mendeley Group on Biofuel Thesis to try and collate these – so please feel free to add any to that group. Sorry that some of these references aren’t complete – I seem to have lost the original article attachment to some.

If you can read in Portuguese – the Biodiesel BR is a good place to get news about biodiesel developments in Brazil. Unfortunately, it is quiet expensive to access the full site but for free you can read the 1st paragraph or two of their articles. The good news is that most of the information is already in the public domain, so if you find something interesting – it is easy enough to google and find further information elsewhere without having to pay their hefty fees.

They are currently promoting a Conference in Brazil on Biodiesel – unfortunately, there is not yet a full list of speakers or any real conference information. I’ve never been to one of these before – would be keen to hear from anyone who has attended.

If you are thinking about doing research on farmers, cooperatives, biodiesel, Brazil or a combination of these – there is now an easy way to find which Cooperatives are formally approved by the Secretary of Family Farming (Secretaria da Agricultura Familiar) in Brazil – organised by State there are +50 cooperative listed along with their phone number!